Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Book 1

«Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors, and Architects» — a foundational work in the history of European art and the main achievement of the Florentine painter, architect, and writer of the 16th century Giorgio Vasari. This book, first published in 1550, is an invaluable source of information about Italian art from Cimabue to the celebrated contemporaries — masters of the Late Renaissance, whom Vasari knew personally.
«Lives» by Vasari are not always impeccable in terms of historical accuracy, but this in no way diminishes their significance, as each biography is not just a chronicle of life, but also an analysis of the creative path, and a subtle stylistic characterization of each master. After all, Vasari, being a talented painter and architect himself, wrote with a deep understanding of the artistic process, which he knew «from the inside».
The first book includes the first and second parts of Vasari's work, dedicated to the lives and works of the Early Renaissance masters: Giotto, Duccio, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Sandro Botticelli, Andrea del Verrocchio, Andrea Mantegna, Filippo Lippi, and many others.